It’s the question dominating discussions about Norwich City’s future at the moment: how much is James Maddison worth?

The 21-year-old has been linked with almost every Premier League team following a breakthrough season which will be remembered for a long time by Canaries supporters.

First off, a reminder of the statistics. Fifteen goals and 11 assists from 45 matches in all competitions, 14 of those goals and eight of the assists coming from 40 Championship games.

That means the Coventry City academy product has been responsible for 30pc of City’s league goals, with six of his goals proving to be match-winners.

You can add various facts and figures to the conversation but for now let’s just say, he’s been fantastic, is an England Under-21 international and has been named in the Championship Team of the Year alongside a host of other award wins and nominations.

Frankly, Maddison is outgrowing Norwich City and few expect him to still be here next season. So with national newspapers throwing around fees from £15million to £30m, what can fans expect?

Clearly with so much interest, the Canaries are hoping for an auction to push the price as high as possible – and that potential sale would play a major role in dealing with the conclusion of Premier League parachute payments.

The Championship record is something of an anomaly, held by Newcastle after selling France international Moussa Sissoko to Tottenham Hotspur for around £30m on deadline day of the summer transfer window in 2016. The Magpies had just been relegated and the midfielder, 27 at the time, had just performed well in helping his country reach the final of Euro 2016.

Sunderland sold Jordan Pickford to Everton last summer in a deal worth up to £30m. Picture: PA

Earlier that summer Newcastle had sealed similar sales of Georginho Wijnaldum to Liverpool, in a deal worth £25m, and Andros Townsend to Crystal Palace for £13m.

More relevant to the Maddison case is last summer’s sale of goalkeeper Jordan Pickford by Sunderland following their top-flight relegation, with Everton breaking their transfer record with an initial £25m fee, which could rise to £30m.

Unlike the Canaries star though, Pickford had just had a full season of action in the Premier League, winning the Black Cats’ player-of-the-season award, and was already an established England U21 international. Given that the keeper could well be England’s number one at the World Cup this summer, it seems Everton paid a fair price.

The fourth highest sale came back in 2007, when Tottenham broke their transfer record to sign striker Darren Bent from relegated Charlton, forking out £16.5m. Pertinently, with Coventry holding a sell-on clause for Maddison, Ipswich reportedly made around £2.5m from Bent’s move due to a 20 percent sell-on clause when they sold the academy product.

Last summer Middlesbrough demonstrated the power of parachute payments when they were able to splash out £15m on Nottingham Forest striker Britt Assombalonga.

The striker, 24 at the time, had managed 14 goals in 33 games despite injuries during 2016/17 and initially started well for Boro this season but has managed just one goal in his last 17 games for the play-off chasers to leave his current tally at 13 in 41 games in all competitions – Maddison has 15 in 45 from midfield for City.

Similarly last summer was Leeds selling New Zealand international striker Chris Wood to top-flight Burnley for around £15m, after 44 goals in 88 matches for the Yorkshire side. With eight goals in 19 Premier League games so far, that looks like fine value for money.

Moussa Sissoko's £30m switch to Tottenham from Newcastle is the Championship's record sale. Picture: PA

Predicting how much Maddison could go for is nigh on impossible. If Manchester City or Tottenham want him and slap in a £30m bid to win the race quickly, then the Canaries make a huge profit.

What we can take from previous sales though is that £15m should be a bare minimum starting point for a deal, which would still be City’s club-record sale and a significant figure which would stabilise the club’s financial future.